Not far in, but I love Dara, he is so sharp and just comes out with the best responses to things. I'm always a little sad he's host on Mock the Week and we don't get as much input from him on the show. One of my favourite podcasts so far.
I know what you mean. I didn't really have a strong opinion on Dara when I only knew him from Mock the Week, but when I saw his stand up I realised he's actually one of the best stand ups of all time, and has a razor sharp wit
I've heard people talk about Dara's 'ehh' plenty of times, but I've never heard anyone mention how often he says 'like, whatever'. For me, that one's far more noticeable because it's actual words. Either way, I love it :)
Thank goodness for this podcast! I have been having a terribly rough week and these episodes haven't yet failed to make me snort with laughter. Thanks Rich!!
These podcasts are great, I canr believe how late I am to the party 🥳 I really resonate with your humour Richard. Been watching your stuff over the last couple of months now, I'm surprised your not in more mainstream stuff.
That ending was soo good! Like Dara made a deliberate effort like - "Oh, we have 2 mins left? Let me generously give Richard a big 2 minute rant now where Richard doesn't even have to say a word!" Such a profesh!
Dara is a fucking Comedy god.. he just Oozes FUNNY!! Every program he is in , he makes 100 times better.. he even did the impossible by making THE APPRENTICE side show WATCHABLE!!! If i ever get the chance i will go see this man.. and personally I think it should be manditory for all BEINGS of this planet to see him at least once in their life :)
That got me laughing through part of my flu attack! "The best doctors are, Dr Diet, Dr Quiet, and Dr merry man." Johnathan Swift. Thank you Dr Herring and Dr O Briain!
It is a tad annoying that I spent money (when I have very little) for the right to download these when they came out, only to discover now that you put them up on UA-cam for free anyway. I love the show, but it just seemed a little unfair that I shelled out for this because I wanted the video and to help the show continue.
***** But it's thank to you (and others) paying that we can put them out for free, as that was what helped us cover our costs. Enjoy the new ones that other people have paid for for free. Now up to 66 eps. If you feel annoyed you've paid £15 for those then I am sorry, but I really appreciate you paying. It's only by these donations that we can keep it going
Richard Herring I guess that's fair, and thanks for taking the time to reply. I'd not checked in with what you were doing for a while, so when I checked today as I'd heard more were coming it was a surprise, that's all. I suppose the payment is both a donation and an 'early viewing', when put that way it's more like supporting you in a Patreon-like way, we pay so that you can continue rather than for a particular product.
Thanks for sharing this 'retro' episode, on the upper right of my caramelized brain cell there's a pool of Top Talent that you all swim around in, yes, Mr. Herring you're floundering around in there too, but Dara O'briain is a Mucho Grande Bolshoi Favorite! of mine and I'm so thankful that you dropped this one, this week, it just adds to my 'stay-cation' home-resort experience, fine food, comfy bed, beautiful surroundings and Top Rate Entertainment. if I had the financial means to make your day a little better, you'd get a week out of me. but..... Thanks for putting something good on the wwweb.
***** I'm Olde, so years and years of mind altering substances long ago, have left me pretty much a Dippy Hippy.....prone to laughter, even at the most inappropriate times...but I have a good time and I hope everyone else does too. Peace Be With You (that's why I like Richard Herring's work)
***** just out there havin' a good time, I hope you are too! too many cranky cathy's...but they can be funny too....and if they knew you were laughing at them, they would implode with rage....keep laughing!!
Na frankie wouldn't come to watch this shit . Dara's a comedy legend but herring ruins it for me. It's his annoying voice and attitude that gets to me.
Your point about Giant Chocolate Buttons being appropriately scaled-up for adult hands doesn't really work for you, Richard, because you have the hands of a small girl....
This was originally recorded in 2013, which IIRC was well before all the noise re: the gender-balance on panel shows and the topic coming up on this podcast.
Right first in best dressed :) Richard mate love all your podcasts I just started listening to me1 vs me2 last night and i'm already up to frame 15 only 44 to go
Thing is, killing Hitler early on may have made things worse. Hitler had his early deputy bumped off because even he saw that deputy as beyond the pale.
Have neither of you heard of the book by Jerome K. Jerome...Three Men in a Boat? Look it up. Great book, but the two movies made from it are pretty bad.
15:24 ... I am too stupid to come up with questions .. ' on the spot '' "I have a question for you - I found it on page 34 ... .... .... what is your favourite colour? " ... ( Richard Herring ) ( come on - couldn't remember that !? )
I do it too though. All comedians have something like this as a way of waiting for the laugh. Even saying nothing is the same as Errrrr. Only those comedians who don't stop for any laughs can claim superiority here - and they are not good comedians.
Richard, you're a lovely guy, warm and cheeky and smart, and I believe quite a bit more handsome than you realise. I get that you've been in the industry for a loooong time, you have had and do have comedic success, and you're funny in terms of popular appeal. There's li'l suggestions that you have an anti capitalist philosophy that does seep into your everyday actions and outlook. But... butbut... I think you're doing some things that harm your act. Not that I'm an expert, but I'm gonna give some critique. Point 1: your introductions to these podcasts on UA-cam are a little banal, which I could live with if it weren't for 'all the cool kids are calling it 'RHLSAPUH' - speaking the acronym of the show's title. Dude, you did this seventeen years ago on This Morning With Richard Not With Judy. It's not a gag, it's not a joke, is it funny? In some kind of 'cool/not cool/ironic way? Can you really carry off a cool/not cool irony with material recycled from sixteen years ago? I don't think you can. Also on the point of sixteen year old material, you used the 'asparagus piss smell' routine in one of your questions. That was a question posed by the Curious Orange on TMWRNJ. I understand that you'll have a huge back catalogue of material by now, and that some may naturally seep into what you do live and mid conversation, but you had this written down to ask. Look, you've got no production timetables, no restrictions on content. You already have a following and bold ideas. You wanna use this unlimited freedom just to rehash old material and make cock jokes? Point 2: You know this yourself, that you've lost popular support from the audience a few times during these podcasts, most notably in the Steve Merchant interview and Sarah Millican. I get that there's a commonality somewhere at the root of yours and Stewart Lee's work, but I'd say your appeal is different. You maybe want to wind the audience up a little here and there, maybe enjoy to lose them and crash during the act for a while, and get it back again. Maybe in a 'Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes' kind of way, you're operating the show with viewers in mind, and losing the audience is funnier in the eyes of viewers than those in the audience themselves, and therefor comedy has been achieved. But... butbut... it doesn't suit you. You neither look, or sound, like the sort of person who can laugh off a sudden bout of unpopularity. If you think about Graham Norton or Johathan Ross, they hardly ever lose the audience and you can measure it in microseconds how long it takes them to bring the crowd back on board. Both their shows are live, consistent, fairly faultless both in terms if interview interest and comedy. Ross in particular has timing mastery over the funnies. You know it's coming, the interviewee knows it's coming, it's only a matter of when, and when it does, the timing is awesome. You're going at the funnies like a dog at a bone. I don't even like Jonathan Ross, I think he's an asshole, so somebody as warm and lively as you should have no problem hitting the sweet funnies as well as jibbing the crowd from time to time. Point 3: not all comedy comes from 'the cutting remark'. You have some great, irreverent and creative ways to make people laugh (e.g. 'would you rather have a man who is a penis with a face, or a man with a little man for a penis') Awesome. The brilliant parts of this show are the unexpected gems when people we think we know suddenly start engaging with your filthy and irreverent questions. This takes us to crazy visual places, and shows new and interesting stuff that is literally stitched from the word go with comedy, even before the anecdotes and banter and jibes fly. You know this stuff is great. But I'll bet more than 95% of your show is insult-based comedy. I mean, if I could categorise the things you say into four broad subjects, it'd be 'I did something fucking stupid' 'you did something fucking stupid' 'here's a fucking stupid version of what you just said' and then 'everything else'. And without actually combing thru the vid to measure the time spent on each, I'm sure most of what you're saying falls in the first three categories. Yeah, it's funny, but look at what you're doing in this one: I ate a giant chocolate button etc - my filming has been weak - insult audience members - insulting introduction to the guest - etc etc. My feeling is that you're actually a deeper thinker, and nicer guy than this, and I think the balance of what you do should reflect that. You'll probably say 'I'm only joking, they all know it, it's fine'. But this is where I think you're misrepresenting yourself. If you paint something brown often enough, no matter how beautiful the color beneath is, people will see it as brown. There's a sheer fearlessness about you, a quintessentially childish imp of a guy who could bring much more originality to chat than you already do. As it stands, you're occupying what would be an overlap space between Craig Fergus and Noel Edmunds, you know? 'lookingforthefunny-lookingforthefunny-ooh!thingswentwrong!-lookingforthefunny' Point 4: I will go thru the vid to show you this one. You have a bad habit of shouting over the laughs you get. Well, it's not 'shouting over' it's a 'Oaahh!' kind of sound, a sort of injected energy into the high point of the moment, as if you're giving momentum to what comes next. But.. butbut... in actuality it serves to flatten the moment, hushing the laugh you got prematurely because the audience switches to listening mode. The habit comes off as unhelpful. you're somehow using it to block rather than enhance the energy of the room. Here's where you do it: 3.58, 4.22, 5.04, 5.09, 5.22, 6.19, 7.29, 7.42, 8.35... I've stopped ten minutes in, partly because it's irritating to do this and other partly because... look at that! Really? A habit you execute at least twice per minute!? Were you even aware you had it? While doing that, I also realised the beautiful irony of giving you a massive critique which is what you did to Dara O Briain all those years ago. Actually, I'm not being ironic, it's just a coincidence. Point 5: Sound quality is awful on these things. Does the podcast go out with more stable sound? Your mouth-to-microphone distance varies so much, and your pitch goes from mumble to shouty, these things combined make for a rollercoaster ride of sound. Point 6: Another production note: don't introduce yourself before the show. So tacky. Point 7: You know, every show has regular features and segments, but as far as I know only on Inside the Actors Studio do different guests get asked exactly the same questions, and that in itself forms a (very brief) feature. I think your 'emergency questions' are lovely, but I also think given the sheer amount of time spent on them, they should vary. And I don't mean between 'would you rather have suncream armpit or ham hands' to 'suncream armpit or time traveling finger'. This is the most imaginative aspect of the show, please find a way to raise the pa-chaaa! of this bit. The question about sucking your own cock is awesome, I love the different reactions to that so maybe keep one or two questions the same, but bigger variance on the others would be awesome. This is where you say 'dude, just cuz I'm on UA-cam now, doesn't make me an amateur, what makes you think you can criticise!?' Hmmmm... .idk, you're in the public arena and have to suck it up. But there's something about seeing someone of your talent languishing in Craig Fergus/Noel Edmunds territory that really irks me. Plus, like I said I suspect you're an anti capitalist, and what, you do these shows two at a time? Hard working anti capitalists do exist, and the world should really see more of that.
MusicalDudeMayhem thanks for your many points. Like you say I've been doing this a long time and I think more about it than you think (in some ways) and less (in others). I think there's some mileage to be had out of a joke running the length of a career, but only occasionally. I get bored with catchphrases and stock questions quicker than almost anyone, so if i choose to do sometihng for a long time then there is a reason behind it. I think the acronym thing is harmless, gives a nice continuity and is willfully uncool. But I'd miss it if I stopped it and so would many others - don't remember the asparagus thing from tmwrnj, it's a back ref to the dave gorman ep. Most of the emergency questions have evolved organically in this way. Most of the other stuff is just your personal taste. I don't agree with you on most of it and I think some of it isn't really accurate - I don't deliberately aim to upset anyone, it's fun doing an interview show that isn't obsequious, but i only invite on people I really like and most of them get that. The Merchant stuff did get genuinely awkward, but the millican on didn't. That was us messing around in a on-stage relationship that we've developed over years. But the whole show is adlibbed and we pretty much keep everything in, so sometimes things aren't going to work or you're going to try and push something and push it too far. I think the unique selling point of this podcast is we keep all those awkward bits in and the bits that don't work, because a) why patronise an audience and pretend it all went well, b) they're often more interesting and funny in a different way, c) it actually shows the high proportion of hits over misses. The bits you don't like , someone else will. It's run on a very small budget and I can't spend days preparing and rehearsing (I think that;s a positive) and I don't prep the guest with questions. So sometimes they are going to grind to a halt, but often they take you somewhere that no other interview would find. And the length of the shows and the weird questions lull the guest into a (not false) sense of security and they open up. By surprising them and distracting them and make them answer questions they've not been asked before you end up getting much more revelatory and interesting stuff. It's not something that I can claim I have sat down and planned, it's an accidental off shoot, but I think the occasional amateurishness and bits of weirdness, plus the fact that the guest knows they will not be edited into soundbites is what makes this work. So as much as I appreciate you taking the time to give me your opinions, I think you're mostly off. I've worked in comedy for 25 years and been a fan of it all my life. I know a lot about it and have thought very deeply about stuff and usually hace made a choice for a good reason, or because I want to see what happens if I go against accepted wisdom or my own entrenched views of what comedy should be. I will continue to experiment and the show will continue to develop, succeed and fail. It's very very hard to stay focused and on it for the four hours that these things can take to record and sometimes I don't do as well as other times, but again, I'd say, part of the charm. Don't care about the money- if I make any of stuff like this I just spend it on making more stuff like this. I am all about the comedy and the experimentation. It galls a bit that you accuse me of not innovating. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a comedian who has created more comedy of different types over their career. So like I say, back references are not out of laziness or paucity of ideas, but a deliberate choice. Thanks for taking the time to let me know what you think though. I do take notice of the reaction to my stuff, but each individual opinion has to be taken as part of the whole (basically I can judge what works and what doesn't via audience reaction/ticket sales/tweets etc) and I think a lot of your remarks misunderstand what it is that makes this show work (when it does). Hope you'll keep watching and critiquing.
Richard Herring Haaaaa! I didn't expect you to spend so long on this. It's better than having an autograph! Brilliant, lovely reply. I suspected you _would_ reply, but to be honest I thought it'd be a one liner, or maybe just 'fuck off.' One of the reasons I put this in the comments section rather than sending a private message was it gives your fans a chance to savage me (I know your comments sections are near universal praise) and, you know, it was cheeky enough to warrant some smackdown. In case it isn't clear though, I'll add that I'm watching these because I find them great entertainment. I like the unusual length of the show, the vast tracts of funny stuff, the jump-off flights of sequences - Dara's embracing of the 'have you ever seen a Bigfoot?' question in this one is a priceless example. And you do it randomly too, taking one subject all over the place. I also love that the show is 'warts 'n' all', that's something I really appreciate, and on a personal prefs level I really like things that're... ummm, there's not a word for it, 'slightly off' or, 'wrong in some way' ... you know, 'things that shouldn't be' kind of area, I love all that. For the most part both you and the show resonates with me. Far more hit than miss for me, maybe I should have made that clearer before. Thankyou for the graceful reply :)
@@Herring1967 The repetition definitely has a hint of irony to it and your audience responds to it and it's not as if it's a dominant factor in your act. There's variety to what you do. Those critical of you can go and squat on a penis shaped potato (a sky potato, possibly) as far as I'm concerned. You rock, keep it up, chief.
Not far in, but I love Dara, he is so sharp and just comes out with the best responses to things. I'm always a little sad he's host on Mock the Week and we don't get as much input from him on the show. One of my favourite podcasts so far.
I know what you mean. I didn't really have a strong opinion on Dara when I only knew him from Mock the Week, but when I saw his stand up I realised he's actually one of the best stand ups of all time, and has a razor sharp wit
I've heard people talk about Dara's 'ehh' plenty of times, but I've never heard anyone mention how often he says 'like, whatever'. For me, that one's far more noticeable because it's actual words. Either way, I love it :)
The bit at the end is just further illustration of what a genius improviser Dara is
Yeah totally agree. Technically the emergency questions work,even with a no answer, if the genius of the guest is so brilliant 🤣🤣
Thank goodness for this podcast! I have been having a terribly rough week and these episodes haven't yet failed to make me snort with laughter. Thanks Rich!!
Possibly the best of the episodes I've watched. Dara's style is perfect for this kind of blogs with his "joke surfing" and riffing. Great job.
These podcasts are great, I canr believe how late I am to the party 🥳
I really resonate with your humour Richard. Been watching your stuff over the last couple of months now, I'm surprised your not in more mainstream stuff.
That ending was soo good!
Like Dara made a deliberate effort like - "Oh, we have 2 mins left? Let me generously give Richard a big 2 minute rant now where Richard doesn't even have to say a word!"
Such a profesh!
Oh how have I managed to not have this series in my life up until now? Bloody goldmine. RuhHuhLehssTuhPuh to one and all.
I would write lottery numbers on my finger and send that back to myself. I would know. Winner.
Dara is a fucking Comedy god.. he just Oozes FUNNY!! Every program he is in , he makes 100 times better.. he even did the impossible by making THE APPRENTICE side show WATCHABLE!!! If i ever get the chance i will go see this man.. and personally I think it should be manditory for all BEINGS of this planet to see him at least once in their life :)
Richard, I really liked this episode. I recently started watching these shows and I enjoy them a lot. Dara is also a favorite, so it's great two ways!
That got me laughing through part of my flu attack! "The best doctors are, Dr Diet, Dr Quiet, and Dr merry man." Johnathan Swift. Thank you Dr Herring and Dr O Briain!
I love how you can get two comedians in the room together, and they'll just feed off of each other like a feedback loop.
The bit about ventriloquists feels awfully dark in light of Richard's recent videos.
What do you mean? I’m from Canada and not sure what you’re referring to
@@kfbell11 He streams some sort of puppet show.
Wait, is this the first mention of Dirty Britcom Confessions?!
Nice, IMDB has dumped the "Tile-store & Wild Goose" story and put the "Parrot in the Garage" in.
Love your talks, Richard. *no holds barred*
It is a tad annoying that I spent money (when I have very little) for the right to download these when they came out, only to discover now that you put them up on UA-cam for free anyway. I love the show, but it just seemed a little unfair that I shelled out for this because I wanted the video and to help the show continue.
***** But it's thank to you (and others) paying that we can put them out for free, as that was what helped us cover our costs. Enjoy the new ones that other people have paid for for free. Now up to 66 eps. If you feel annoyed you've paid £15 for those then I am sorry, but I really appreciate you paying. It's only by these donations that we can keep it going
Richard Herring I guess that's fair, and thanks for taking the time to reply. I'd not checked in with what you were doing for a while, so when I checked today as I'd heard more were coming it was a surprise, that's all. I suppose the payment is both a donation and an 'early viewing', when put that way it's more like supporting you in a Patreon-like way, we pay so that you can continue rather than for a particular product.
Thanks for sharing this 'retro' episode, on the upper right of my caramelized brain cell there's a pool of Top Talent that you all swim around in, yes, Mr. Herring you're floundering around in there too, but Dara O'briain is a Mucho Grande Bolshoi Favorite! of mine and I'm so thankful that you dropped this one, this week, it just adds to my 'stay-cation' home-resort experience, fine food, comfy bed, beautiful surroundings and Top Rate Entertainment. if I had the financial means to make your day a little better, you'd get a week out of me. but.....
Thanks for putting something good on the wwweb.
***** I'm Olde, so years and years of mind altering substances long ago, have left me pretty much a Dippy Hippy.....prone to laughter, even at the most inappropriate times...but I have a good time and I hope everyone else does too.
Peace Be With You
(that's why I like Richard Herring's work)
***** just out there havin' a good time, I hope you are too! too many cranky cathy's...but they can be funny too....and if they knew you were laughing at them, they would implode with rage....keep laughing!!
The closed captioning on this is amazing
Looking forward to the Lou Sanders ep, that should be... Interesting.
Was Frankie Boyle in the crowd? Can hear his laugh at 9:11 and various other parts also. Quite a cackling laugh.
PS, I love these podcasts. Thanks for making them available Richard. Much appreciated.
he WOULD laugh at 9/11
Na frankie wouldn't come to watch this shit .
Dara's a comedy legend but herring ruins it for me.
It's his annoying voice and attitude that gets to me.
Your point about Giant Chocolate Buttons being appropriately scaled-up for adult hands doesn't really work for you, Richard, because you have the hands of a small girl....
That's the problem with Mr Herring, he is not consistent from one week to the next! That aside another excellent show
came to watch this after the last episode of mock the week and…. Dara has the electrified tennis racket!!!!!!
I hope you upload the Stephen Merchant video so I can see the discomfort of the last 20 minutes.
What was the discomfort caused by
Shame Richard didn't quiz him on the dynamics of Mock The Week, seeing as that topic comes up in a lot of his other podcasts.
This was originally recorded in 2013, which IIRC was well before all the noise re: the gender-balance on panel shows and the topic coming up on this podcast.
I recommended you to lots of "friends". Sorry for watching for free
People are quite harsh! I always say if you are perfect throw the first stone. cause no one is perfect. ever.
Is this episode the origins of Dirty Britcom Confessions on RHLSTP?
Man Dara IS underrated!!
Right first in best dressed :) Richard mate love all your podcasts I just started listening to me1 vs me2 last night and i'm already up to frame 15 only 44 to go
Da Seapig I stopped after 34 frames :) good luck!
Devils Advocate man it gets so good from frame 35 onwards. What a shame
Richard Herring I'm going to start listening again :) I only stopped to watch stewart lee's stuff for a bit instead.
Truly delightful.
last bit made my face hurtxxxxxx
Thing is, killing Hitler early on may have made things worse. Hitler had his early deputy bumped off because even he saw that deputy as beyond the pale.
Is that a black frame at 22:50?
9 years ago, "Romesh Ranganathan; up-and-coming newcomer..." Blimey, where has the time gone. 😲
Have neither of you heard of the book by Jerome K. Jerome...Three Men in a Boat? Look it up. Great book, but the two movies made from it are pretty bad.
15:24 ... I am too stupid to come up with questions .. ' on the spot ''
"I have a question for you - I found it on page 34 ... .... .... what is your favourite colour? " ... ( Richard Herring )
( come on - couldn't remember that !? )
The point is that I am choosing questions at random. I'm at the mercy of them too then. Funny that it's such a crap one surely?
Mmmm re Dara's final rant, methinks he doth protest too much, hmmm? Tell us the truth Dara!
9:27 ... love every guest - but HATE the host ... as he 'needs' to read everything - instead of using memory to introduce the guests name.
Yup, I forgot who the guest was. You got me.
not a massive fan of the t shirts tbh
How Richard has turned on his opinions of comedians who say Errrr after a punchline from TMWRNJ to now. Dara is the worst on the planet for that.
I do it too though. All comedians have something like this as a way of waiting for the laugh. Even saying nothing is the same as Errrrr. Only those comedians who don't stop for any laughs can claim superiority here - and they are not good comedians.
@@Herring1967
You don't do it anywhere near as much as Michael Owen.
So that's a plus.
....though his is more of an "erm"
than an "err."
Dara errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr O'Briain
This is such an old video, there's probably no point to add a comment..
not with that attitude
This Richard fella desperately needs a better fitting shirt terrible.
Richard, you're a lovely guy, warm and cheeky and smart, and I believe quite a bit more handsome than you realise. I get that you've been in the industry for a loooong time, you have had and do have comedic success, and you're funny in terms of popular appeal. There's li'l suggestions that you have an anti capitalist philosophy that does seep into your everyday actions and outlook. But... butbut... I think you're doing some things that harm your act. Not that I'm an expert, but I'm gonna give some critique.
Point 1: your introductions to these podcasts on UA-cam are a little banal, which I could live with if it weren't for 'all the cool kids are calling it 'RHLSAPUH' - speaking the acronym of the show's title. Dude, you did this seventeen years ago on This Morning With Richard Not With Judy. It's not a gag, it's not a joke, is it funny? In some kind of 'cool/not cool/ironic way? Can you really carry off a cool/not cool irony with material recycled from sixteen years ago? I don't think you can.
Also on the point of sixteen year old material, you used the 'asparagus piss smell' routine in one of your questions. That was a question posed by the Curious Orange on TMWRNJ. I understand that you'll have a huge back catalogue of material by now, and that some may naturally seep into what you do live and mid conversation, but you had this written down to ask.
Look, you've got no production timetables, no restrictions on content. You already have a following and bold ideas. You wanna use this unlimited freedom just to rehash old material and make cock jokes?
Point 2: You know this yourself, that you've lost popular support from the audience a few times during these podcasts, most notably in the Steve Merchant interview and Sarah Millican. I get that there's a commonality somewhere at the root of yours and Stewart Lee's work, but I'd say your appeal is different. You maybe want to wind the audience up a little here and there, maybe enjoy to lose them and crash during the act for a while, and get it back again. Maybe in a 'Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes' kind of way, you're operating the show with viewers in mind, and losing the audience is funnier in the eyes of viewers than those in the audience themselves, and therefor comedy has been achieved. But... butbut... it doesn't suit you. You neither look, or sound, like the sort of person who can laugh off a sudden bout of unpopularity. If you think about Graham Norton or Johathan Ross, they hardly ever lose the audience and you can measure it in microseconds how long it takes them to bring the crowd back on board. Both their shows are live, consistent, fairly faultless both in terms if interview interest and comedy. Ross in particular has timing mastery over the funnies. You know it's coming, the interviewee knows it's coming, it's only a matter of when, and when it does, the timing is awesome. You're going at the funnies like a dog at a bone. I don't even like Jonathan Ross, I think he's an asshole, so somebody as warm and lively as you should have no problem hitting the sweet funnies as well as jibbing the crowd from time to time.
Point 3: not all comedy comes from 'the cutting remark'. You have some great, irreverent and creative ways to make people laugh (e.g. 'would you rather have a man who is a penis with a face, or a man with a little man for a penis') Awesome. The brilliant parts of this show are the unexpected gems when people we think we know suddenly start engaging with your filthy and irreverent questions. This takes us to crazy visual places, and shows new and interesting stuff that is literally stitched from the word go with comedy, even before the anecdotes and banter and jibes fly. You know this stuff is great. But I'll bet more than 95% of your show is insult-based comedy. I mean, if I could categorise the things you say into four broad subjects, it'd be 'I did something fucking stupid' 'you did something fucking stupid' 'here's a fucking stupid version of what you just said' and then 'everything else'. And without actually combing thru the vid to measure the time spent on each, I'm sure most of what you're saying falls in the first three categories. Yeah, it's funny, but look at what you're doing in this one: I ate a giant chocolate button etc - my filming has been weak - insult audience members - insulting introduction to the guest - etc etc. My feeling is that you're actually a deeper thinker, and nicer guy than this, and I think the balance of what you do should reflect that. You'll probably say 'I'm only joking, they all know it, it's fine'. But this is where I think you're misrepresenting yourself. If you paint something brown often enough, no matter how beautiful the color beneath is, people will see it as brown. There's a sheer fearlessness about you, a quintessentially childish imp of a guy who could bring much more originality to chat than you already do. As it stands, you're occupying what would be an overlap space between Craig Fergus and Noel Edmunds, you know? 'lookingforthefunny-lookingforthefunny-ooh!thingswentwrong!-lookingforthefunny'
Point 4: I will go thru the vid to show you this one. You have a bad habit of shouting over the laughs you get. Well, it's not 'shouting over' it's a 'Oaahh!' kind of sound, a sort of injected energy into the high point of the moment, as if you're giving momentum to what comes next. But.. butbut... in actuality it serves to flatten the moment, hushing the laugh you got prematurely because the audience switches to listening mode. The habit comes off as unhelpful. you're somehow using it to block rather than enhance the energy of the room. Here's where you do it:
3.58, 4.22, 5.04, 5.09, 5.22, 6.19, 7.29, 7.42, 8.35...
I've stopped ten minutes in, partly because it's irritating to do this and other partly because... look at that! Really? A habit you execute at least twice per minute!? Were you even aware you had it?
While doing that, I also realised the beautiful irony of giving you a massive critique which is what you did to Dara O Briain all those years ago. Actually, I'm not being ironic, it's just a coincidence.
Point 5: Sound quality is awful on these things. Does the podcast go out with more stable sound? Your mouth-to-microphone distance varies so much, and your pitch goes from mumble to shouty, these things combined make for a rollercoaster ride of sound.
Point 6: Another production note: don't introduce yourself before the show. So tacky.
Point 7: You know, every show has regular features and segments, but as far as I know only on Inside the Actors Studio do different guests get asked exactly the same questions, and that in itself forms a (very brief) feature. I think your 'emergency questions' are lovely, but I also think given the sheer amount of time spent on them, they should vary. And I don't mean between 'would you rather have suncream armpit or ham hands' to 'suncream armpit or time traveling finger'. This is the most imaginative aspect of the show, please find a way to raise the pa-chaaa! of this bit. The question about sucking your own cock is awesome, I love the different reactions to that so maybe keep one or two questions the same, but bigger variance on the others would be awesome.
This is where you say 'dude, just cuz I'm on UA-cam now, doesn't make me an amateur, what makes you think you can criticise!?'
Hmmmm... .idk, you're in the public arena and have to suck it up. But there's something about seeing someone of your talent languishing in Craig Fergus/Noel Edmunds territory that really irks me.
Plus, like I said I suspect you're an anti capitalist, and what, you do these shows two at a time? Hard working anti capitalists do exist, and the world should really see more of that.
MusicalDudeMayhem thanks for your many points. Like you say I've been doing this a long time and I think more about it than you think (in some ways) and less (in others). I think there's some mileage to be had out of a joke running the length of a career, but only occasionally. I get bored with catchphrases and stock questions quicker than almost anyone, so if i choose to do sometihng for a long time then there is a reason behind it. I think the acronym thing is harmless, gives a nice continuity and is willfully uncool. But I'd miss it if I stopped it and so would many others - don't remember the asparagus thing from tmwrnj, it's a back ref to the dave gorman ep. Most of the emergency questions have evolved organically in this way.
Most of the other stuff is just your personal taste. I don't agree with you on most of it and I think some of it isn't really accurate - I don't deliberately aim to upset anyone, it's fun doing an interview show that isn't obsequious, but i only invite on people I really like and most of them get that. The Merchant stuff did get genuinely awkward, but the millican on didn't. That was us messing around in a on-stage relationship that we've developed over years. But the whole show is adlibbed and we pretty much keep everything in, so sometimes things aren't going to work or you're going to try and push something and push it too far. I think the unique selling point of this podcast is we keep all those awkward bits in and the bits that don't work, because a) why patronise an audience and pretend it all went well, b) they're often more interesting and funny in a different way, c) it actually shows the high proportion of hits over misses. The bits you don't like , someone else will.
It's run on a very small budget and I can't spend days preparing and rehearsing (I think that;s a positive) and I don't prep the guest with questions. So sometimes they are going to grind to a halt, but often they take you somewhere that no other interview would find.
And the length of the shows and the weird questions lull the guest into a (not false) sense of security and they open up. By surprising them and distracting them and make them answer questions they've not been asked before you end up getting much more revelatory and interesting stuff. It's not something that I can claim I have sat down and planned, it's an accidental off shoot, but I think the occasional amateurishness and bits of weirdness, plus the fact that the guest knows they will not be edited into soundbites is what makes this work.
So as much as I appreciate you taking the time to give me your opinions, I think you're mostly off. I've worked in comedy for 25 years and been a fan of it all my life. I know a lot about it and have thought very deeply about stuff and usually hace made a choice for a good reason, or because I want to see what happens if I go against accepted wisdom or my own entrenched views of what comedy should be. I will continue to experiment and the show will continue to develop, succeed and fail. It's very very hard to stay focused and on it for the four hours that these things can take to record and sometimes I don't do as well as other times, but again, I'd say, part of the charm.
Don't care about the money- if I make any of stuff like this I just spend it on making more stuff like this. I am all about the comedy and the experimentation. It galls a bit that you accuse me of not innovating. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a comedian who has created more comedy of different types over their career. So like I say, back references are not out of laziness or paucity of ideas, but a deliberate choice.
Thanks for taking the time to let me know what you think though. I do take notice of the reaction to my stuff, but each individual opinion has to be taken as part of the whole (basically I can judge what works and what doesn't via audience reaction/ticket sales/tweets etc) and I think a lot of your remarks misunderstand what it is that makes this show work (when it does). Hope you'll keep watching and critiquing.
Richard Herring Haaaaa! I didn't expect you to spend so long on this. It's better than having an autograph!
Brilliant, lovely reply. I suspected you _would_ reply, but to be honest I thought it'd be a one liner, or maybe just 'fuck off.'
One of the reasons I put this in the comments section rather than sending a private message was it gives your fans a chance to savage me (I know your comments sections are near universal praise) and, you know, it was cheeky enough to warrant some smackdown.
In case it isn't clear though, I'll add that I'm watching these because I find them great entertainment. I like the unusual length of the show, the vast tracts of funny stuff, the jump-off flights of sequences - Dara's embracing of the 'have you ever seen a Bigfoot?' question in this one is a priceless example. And you do it randomly too, taking one subject all over the place.
I also love that the show is 'warts 'n' all', that's something I really appreciate, and on a personal prefs level I really like things that're... ummm, there's not a word for it, 'slightly off' or, 'wrong in some way' ... you know, 'things that shouldn't be' kind of area, I love all that. For the most part both you and the show resonates with me. Far more hit than miss for me, maybe I should have made that clearer before.
Thankyou for the graceful reply :)
MusicalDudeMayhem How lovely to see some decent online discourse^^
Richard Herring Rich, you're sound as fuck. Keep on keeping on.
@@Herring1967
The repetition definitely has a hint of irony to it
and your audience responds to it
and it's not as if it's a dominant factor in your act.
There's variety to what you do.
Those critical of you
can go and squat on a penis shaped potato (a sky potato, possibly)
as far as I'm concerned.
You rock, keep it up, chief.